Hawks sign Cole Aldrich to non-guaranteed training camp deal

The rebuilding Atlanta Hawks have added another big body to their offseason roster after officially signing veteran center Cole Aldrich to a training camp deal, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN.

Adding to Shooter… It will be a non-guaranteed camp deal for the pride of Bloomington and former #Twolves big. I know Cole is motivated to stick with the Hawks for a while. https://t.co/Cj29ztEbyu

An agreement between the Hawks and Aldrich was already put in place earlier this month, though, it took almost two weeks before the big man was able to put pen on paper.

By signing the Kansas Jayhawks product, Atlanta has also maxed out its 20-man offseason roster count. There are 15 players on the roster with guaranteed contracts while the foursome of Alex Poythress, Jaylen Adams, R.J. Hunter, and Thomas Robinson are all under two-way deals.

Since his deal is a non-guaranteed type, Cole Aldrich will be fully motivated to prove that he can be a valuable asset for Atlanta when the team kicks off its training camp next week.

Before getting scooped up from the free agent market by the Hawks, Aldrich spent two seasons warming the bench of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Timberwolves dropped Cole Aldrich into the waivers last June.

Aldrich entered the NBA in 2010 when the New Orleans Hornets selected him in the first round of that year’s draft before getting traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder along with Morris Peterson in exchange for Quincy Pondexter and Craig Brackins.

Aldrich is the only healthy natural center on Atlanta’s offseason roster with Dewayne Dedmon still nursing an ankle injury.

Aldrich has played in 339 games in the NBA with averages of 3.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 0.5 assists.